Police: Homeowner shoots, kills 2 alleged intruders

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. -- A Morrison County man told police on Friday that he fatally shot two teenagers, leaving their bodies in his basement for 24 hours before police found them.

The 64-year-old man says he shot the teens on Thursday at 12 p.m. after they broke into his house.

According to the Morrison County Sheriff's Department, someone called authorities on Friday afternoon reporting suspicious activity. When police arrived at the home on the 1400 block of Elm Street, north of Little Falls, the man immediately told them he had fatally shot two people around noon on Thanksgiving Day.

Deputies then located the bodies of a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old woman in the man's basement.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said information discovered during the investigation has led the BCA to arrest the man for second-degree murder.

Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel says, "a person has every right to defend themselves and their homes, even employing deadly force if necessary." Circumstances of this case however have led authorities to believe that the homeowner went beyond that point.

Formal charges are pending with the Morrison County Attorney's Office.

More details of the investigation will be released after the man's initial court appearance on Monday afternoon.

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